Annibirthary [Adventure]

[Adventure 21]

I dropped a few of my children off in the parking lot of a shopping plaza. They had cash, reusable grocery bags, face masks, and a mission: to purchase things necessary to put together a 25th anniversary celebration. That they planned. I drove to the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions and purchase a few things while they shopped.

Upon arriving home with their purchases, they banished me to the bathroom while they put things in fridges and freezers and who knows where else. There were still a couple days until the celebration and my husband and I were under strict orders not to look in the mini fridge or chest freezer. 

The day finally arrived, and Jim and I were off to get some fresh air and exercise on the Rails to Trails closest to our house. We were nearly there when we received a text about a bag forgotten in the van. We made our way back home, dropped off the bag, and returned to the trail. As we reached the end of the trail - 1.5 miles from our van - we got the news that we were free to return home. Informing the children of our circumstances, we then returned to our van, with a quick stop for caffeinated beverages at Perkatory first.

Upon arriving home we received an enthusiastic greeting by a couple of our hosts who ushered  us into the kitchen, where we were serenaded with an appropriately and intentionally off-key rendition of "Happy Annibirthary To You." they threw our birthdays into the celebration seeing as they hadn't done much to recognize my December 30th or my husband's January 2nd birthdays. We were then escorted to our bed to open gifts and be waited upon while we watched the movie they had selected - a Five Below dvd purchase of "The Best of Dr. Seuss." We munched on veggies and dip and an array of cheeses while we watched such masterpieces as "The Butter Battle Book" and waited for the children to make dinner. We found Horton Hatches the Egg especially disturbing, considering it contains (trigger warning ... who the heck needs a trigger warning for a Dr. Seuss movie??? ) a scene in which a fish shoots itself in the head with a gun, committing suicide after exclaiming that "now I've seen it all!". 

We ate a dinner of chicken pucks, mashed potatoes, and pancakes - an interesting combination - and snacked on popcorn and candy as well. There were brownies for dessert, and the kids cleaned up (mostly) before going to bed. 

It was a wonderful Annibirthary celebration. What was even more wonderful is that seven of our children were there - the five I birthed and two who are part of our family through love. It might not have been what we were planning for our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, but it was wonderful nonetheless.